Neoptera
Tuesday, 15. January 2008, 19:50:33
Mantophasmatodea is an order of African carnivorous insects discovered in 2002, the first new insect order to be described since 1914. Neoptera is a classification group that includes almost all the winged insects, specifically those that can flex their wings over their abdomens. This is in contrast with the more basal orders of winged insects (the "Paleoptera" assemblage), which are unable to flex their wings in this way.
ITIS lumps all neopteran orders together in this infraclass without subdivision; other authorities recognise several superorders within it. Almost universally accepted are the Exopterygota - hemimetabolous neopterans, in which the wings are already visible before the adult stage and no pupa or chrysalis stage occurs -, and the Endopterygota, the holometabolous insects in which the wings develop inside the body during the larval stage and only become external appendages during the pupa or chrysalis stage.
ITIS lumps all neopteran orders together in this infraclass without subdivision; other authorities recognise several superorders within it. Almost universally accepted are the Exopterygota - hemimetabolous neopterans, in which the wings are already visible before the adult stage and no pupa or chrysalis stage occurs -, and the Endopterygota, the holometabolous insects in which the wings develop inside the body during the larval stage and only become external appendages during the pupa or chrysalis stage.
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